1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to recording methods that use transport mechanisms and heads.
2. Related Art
Inkjet printers are known as recording apparatuses in which a medium (such as paper or cloth for example) is transported in a transport direction and recording is carried out on the medium by a head. In such a recording apparatus, when a transport error occurs while transporting the medium, the head cannot record on a correct position on the medium. In particular, with inkjet printers, when ink droplets do not land in the correct position on the medium, there is a risk that white streaks or black streaks will occur in the printed image and image quality deteriorates.
Accordingly, methods are proposed for correcting transport amounts of the medium. For example, in JP-A-5-96796 it is proposed that a test pattern is printed and the test pattern is read, and correction values are calculated based on a reading result such that when an image is to be recorded, the transport amounts are corrected based on the calculated values.
In JP-A-5-96796, correction values are determined in response to a difference between a rear end of a line formed along the transport direction and a front end of a different line adjacent to this line. In this method, a nozzle that forms the rear end of a certain line and a nozzle that forms the front end of a different line adjacent to this line are different nozzles. In a case such as this, correction values cannot be calculated accurately when the ink ejection characteristics are different for each nozzle.
On the other hand, if a test pattern is printed using only a single nozzle, problems are produced such as the number of printable lines on the test sheet being reduced undesirably.